It was his ticket away from the gangs, the drugs and the violence of his Bronx neighborhood: a neighborhood in which he watched one of his best friends shot and killed right in front of his eyes.

So the 5-foot-11, 187-pound athlete from John F. Kennedy High punched that ticket which, he said, would probably be the only way he would make it to college.

Green will attend Penn State to pursue a crime, law and justice degree. He said that growing up around so much crime has made him develop a loathing for people who break the law. He said that his ultimate goal is to become an FBI agent.